


filling the space

by foreversummer



Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: M/M, this is my first falsettos fic so let me know what u think!!!!!, whizzer/marvin is mentioned but they're not together in this fyi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 13:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9236288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreversummer/pseuds/foreversummer
Summary: those Cursed two years in which marvin is lonely af and jason just wants to help his sad dad





	

He almost does it about fifty times during that first year after they break up. He knows it wouldn’t be that hard to take his mom’s or his dad’s phone book and find Whizzer’s number; after all, how many Whizzer Browns can there be in New York City? But Jason isn’t an adult. He’s never been in love. He knows he can’t understand his dad and Whizzer’s situation past a certain point. His parents are already divorced and barely getting along, and he doesn’t want to stir the pot any more by reopening old wounds; he remembers all too well the turmoil of the night Whizzer left. Plus, he can ignore the problem five days of the week when he’s at his mom’s house.

But on Friday nights, Jason goes to sleep in an apartment that feels way too big for two people. He wakes up and sees the melancholy in Marvin’s actions as he makes coffee only for himself. There’s too much food in the refrigerator, too many awkward pauses in conversation, too many places to sit on the couch. Jason keeps hoping that maybe Marvin will find someone new, someone with whom he wouldn’t bicker so much. However, he never makes an effort with his clothes or his hair and rarely goes out except to work and with Jason.

But Marvin is trying in just about every other way. He takes Jason out to new cafes and restaurants every weekend and always gets him to baseball practice on time. He invites Cordelia and Charlotte over for dinner or just for lively conversation during the day. He smiles whenever he can work up the energy and cracks bad jokes every now and then. Jason even sees him going out to run in the mornings sometimes. But underneath all that, Jason knows there’s a deep hurt in Marvin that just won’t leave him alone.

Jason is unpleasantly surprised when he realizes something is still weighing Marvin down after almost two years without Whizzer. He’s still fighting like hell to be a good dad and a likable guy, but he’s tired. He’s in his late thirties and hopelessly single, feeling like he’s blown his one shot at love. Even Jason, who’s now twelve, can understand how lonely he must feel. So after those long two years, Jason decides that complacency just isn’t going to cut it. One Tuesday late at night, while his mom and Mendel are unwinding over a bottle of wine in the living room, Jason slides the phone book out of the family room bookshelf. He sits down on the ground and cracks it open, immediately noticing the myriad of people with the last name “Brown.” Luckily, and just as he’d hoped, there’s only one Whizzer. Jason takes a few seconds to memorize the number before returning the phone book and grabbing the telephone off the counter, carrying it as far as the cord will stretch into the corner of the room. Trina and Mendel are on the other side of the house, so hopefully he’ll be able to make his phone call in peace. He dials the ten digits, then waits as it rings once, then twice, then - “Brown residence.”

“Hello, is this Whizzer?” Jason asks.

“Yes,” Whizzer responds, wary after hearing the voice of either a young child or a woman with quite a high register. “Who is this?”

“Jason Feldman. Marvin’s son.”

Whizzer inhales sharply. He takes a couple seconds to process this, then responds, “well hi, Jason! How’ve you been? You’re… twelve now, right?”

“Yep, started sixth grade this year! I’m well, how are you?”

“Good, good. Work’s been picking up recently, I did three wedding photo shoots today.” 

“Oh, that’s so cool!” Jason replies. “So hey, I was calling because my little league team has a big game in a couple weeks and I was wondering if you’d might like to come. It’s Friday afternoon on the 20th, I think.”

Whizzer pauses again. “Jason, I’d love to support you, but I’m not quite sure if that’s appropriate. It’s been almost two years, I don’t think I should just show up out of the blue like that.” 

“Two years is nothing. That’s like one-fortieth of your whole life. You wouldn’t even have to talk to my dad or my mom or anybody.” 

“If I saw them, which I probably would, I think I’d have to. And I’m not sure if they’d want that.”

“My dad wants to see you,” Jason tells him.

“He said that?” Whizzer is surprised and almost hopeful.

“No, but he’s sad and won’t stop being so mopey all the time.”

“Oh.” Whizzer laughs softly. “Well, I’m not sure that’s about me then.”

“Trust me, it is,” Jason insists. “He hasn’t been the same since you left. Please, just come to this one game.”

“Jason,” Whizzer says. “I wish you all the best at your baseball game. But I’m sorry, I can’t come. I can’t just march back into your lives after so long. I think I’ve caused enough damage. And your dad kicked me out, remember?”

Jason’s quiet for a moment, unsure of how to respond. Then he says, “you’ve always been in our lives.”

“What?”

“These last two years. You’re still there. You’re there because I can see how my dad misses you every day and how his apartment is too big, even when I’m there.”

There’s silence on the other line. 

“Your spot in our family’s still here. You just have to come back.”

 _Jesus Christ_ , Whizzer thinks, shaking his head in amusement. _This kid._

“I’m really glad you called, kiddo, and I love you, but it’s not gonna work out this time. I’m so sorry.” 

Jason sighs. “It’s okay, Whizzer. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime.”

“Yeah, maybe,” says Whizzer, already feeling guilty about disappointing Jason. Then the line goes dead. Jason puts the phone back in its cradle and goes upstairs to his bedroom, where he almost immediately falls asleep.

On the other side of town, Whizzer lays in bed, unable to close his eyes for hours.

…

Jason is a mirror image of his father’s gloominess the next weekend, staring emptily into his milk after he’s eaten all the Cheerios. Marvin notices and takes him to Central Park, where they talk and throw bread crumbs to the pigeons. Marvin flounders when Jason asks what he should do to get a pretty girl in his class to go on a date with him, but tries to offer advice nonetheless. It ends with both of them laughing and Jason telling him he’ll just ask Mendel later. For the time being, Jason can pretend that everything is just fine.

But then he hugs his dad goodbye on Sunday night and he thinks about how quiet the apartment will be after Marvin closes the door. He knows, better than almost anyone, how many mistakes his dad has made. He knows that for a long time, his dad was selfish, immature, and he didn’t know how to show love. But he also knows that Marvin’s changed and grown and might finally deserve the family he’s always wanted. Jason figures he’s gone this far already, so when his mom and Mendel go out to walk the dog after they get home, he finds the phone book again and dials Whizzer’s number.

It almost rings out before Whizzer answers. 

“Hi, Whizzer. It’s Jason again.”

“Hey Jason, what’s up?” Whizzer asks.

“Nothing much, I just -” Jason stops when he realizes Whizzer had gone on to say, “And what was the -”

“Sorry, you go ahead,” says Jason.

Whizzer takes a deep breath, then - “What did you say was the name of the park where your baseball team is playing next weekend?”


End file.
